ALTOONA, Pa. -- There's still hope in salvaging the Robert Morris hockey programs, though, it won't come in time for the 2021-2022 season according to a release sent out by the university Thursday afternoon.
"Robert Morris University will not reinstate its NCAA Division 1 ice hockey programs for the 2021-22 season, opting instead to continue to raise money for a return the following year," the university said in the statement.
This comes on the heels of an initial July 31 deadline to have the funds needed to reinstate the programs by the university and the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation, a coalition of former players and alumni of the programs. That date came and went and now, Robert Morris is pushing the deadline to raise money back to December 15, the end of the fall semester.
"If RMU can raise a total of $1.4 million in immediate contributions and another $1.4 million in pledges, the university will reinstate both programs in time for the 2022-23 season," the university stated.
To date, there has been $1.34 million raised with $754,000 in pledges payable in 2021-22 accounting for about half of what it would take to fund the teams for one year.
"Our goal was to get the programs reinstated from the start," PCHF board chairman and Olympic medalist Brianne McLaughlin said in a statement to DK Pittsburgh Sports. "While we had hoped it would be for this year, we are going to continue to work to fundraise to get the teams back."
Reinstating the teams for 2021-22 became an issue with an estimated four players affiliated with the women's program and no head coach as Paul Colontino accepted a position as the vice president of hockey administration at Bishop Kearney Select in Rochester, NY.
While the mens side hasn't been entirely decimated with departures, it would be hard to field a team had the program been reinstated for this season, though, according to the release the university will be hiring head coaches and fill out staffs for both programs in the next few weeks and exploring options to play at an enhanced facility.
"The university's decision to discontinue the hockey programs was a strategic decision that was carefully considered in light of the economics of the programs and RMU's financial resources," Robert Morris president Chris Howard said in the statement. "Since the decision was announced on May 26, I have been encouraged by the passion and enthusiasm for RMU NCAA Division 1 hockey from the foundation and the broader community."
Should the programs find coaches, players and be reinstated there will still be hurdles to jump through to return to competition. The programs will have to re-apply to their former conferences with the women reapplying to the CHA and men Atlantic Hockey for the 2022-23 season.
